Napster Legality :: essays research papers

Napster & Peer-to-peer File SharingA Crime Not According to the facts. well-nigh people who redeem been paying any attention to the news score heard of an online good called Napster. Although Napster may have millions of members, many people have absolutely no idea what Napster is, or why it is the topic of so much controversy. In recent months, the music perseverance has faced some(prenominal) pressing issues involving Napster. MP3s are the real issue behind Napster. MP3s are a computer bill format that greatly reduces the file size of a track on a CD. Due to the bundle up file of the music, they nominate be easily transmitted over the Internet. erst the files are stored on the computers hard-fought drive they can be played as many times as the substance abuser would analogous to listen to them. To add to the dissatisfaction of the music industry, peer-to-peer file sharing services, like Napster, have gained huge popularity in the last few years. The industry is diffic ult to prove that Napster is hurting their sales, which causes damage to their business and is illegal on the foundation of copyright infringement. If one were to look into this matter a little deeper they would insure that this is not true. Napster and other peer-to-peer networks are legal and are protected under(a) the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. A peer-to-peer file sharing service has two main functions, one of which is that it provides Internet chat rooms and inst message services. It also allows users to scan the hard drives of other users to search for an MP3. at a time the desired MP3 is located the user searching for the file is able to transfer the file directly to their personal Grohs 2computers hard drive. When the user obtains the file, it then becomes searchable and downloadable by other users. As more users download the same file, the odds of another user locating that file greatly increases, as more people on the network are fling it for download. This make s the spread of an individual files move swiftly.The most popular of these services on the Internet is Napster. As Napster has gained popularity, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has sued the service claiming that Napster provides a safe haven for users to trade copyrighted material. The music industry believes there is a significant decrease in sales out-of-pocket to the existence of services like Napster and this causes substantial damage to their business.